Improvement in bouquet-holders



W. H. HOFFMAN 8:. B. $12.3. HOYT.

BOUQUET-HOLDER.

Patented April 18, 1876.

,NJEYERS. PHOTO-LXTHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. I! C UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

WILLIAM H. HOFFMAN, oF PASSAIG, NEW JERSEY, AND B. ST. JOHN HOYT, OF NEW YoRK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOUQUET-HOLDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 176,310., dated April 18, 1876; application filed March 23, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. HOFF- MAN, of Passaic, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, and B. ST. JOHN HoY'r, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Bouquet- Holders; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Our invention relates particularly to a bou-' quetholder adapted to be inserted in a button-hole; and it consists, first, in the combination, with a bottle for holding water and the stems of the flowers composing the bouquet, of a hook-shaped stop and a flange for retaining the bottle in the button-hole; and, I

further, in the combination, with said bottle, of aflange-like projection for supporting the rear portion of the bouquet and assisting to retain it in place by an elastic band, and also assisting to retain the holder in position in the button-hole.

The accompanying, drawing illustrates the manner of carrying out our invention.

Figure 1 is a side view of the bouquetholder, with a bouquet in place in the bottle. Fig. 2 is a side view of the holder, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a top view.

The bottle may be of any suitable material and construction. It is here shown as a tube, A, with its lower end somewhat flattened to facilitate its insertion in the button-hole. The upper end of the bottle or tube A is provided with a hook-shaped arm, B, extending forward and serving as a stop to prevent the bottle from passing entirely through the button-hole. This arm B may be of any suitable design or ornamented in any suitable manner. It is here shown as provided with a bell, b, suspended from the end of the arm, and representing what is known as the Old Liberty Bell. The arm B may be in one piece with the bottle, or attached thereto in any suitable manner. At the top of the bottle, on the rear side, is a flange, D, which extends upward a short distance, and also laterally in two opposite directions, so as to form two arms running transverse to the arm B. This flange may be in one piece with the metal of the bottle, and may be either flat or slightly curved, as shown. When the bottle contains a bow quet the flange D serves to support the rear side thereof, and also to partly prevent friction of the bouquet against the cloth when the holder is placed in the button-hole. By means of a cord or elastic band, 0, passed around the stem of the bouquet and under the lateral projections of the flange D, the bouquet may be securely retained in place in the holder. When the bouquet-holder is inserted in the button-hole the flange D co-operates with the arm B and assists in retaining the holder in position.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'

1. In a bouquetholder, the combination with the tube or bottle A of a hooked-shaped arm or stop, B, and flange D, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. The combination, with the tube or bottle A, of the laterally-projecting flange, whereby provision is made for securing the stem of the bouquet by an elastic band, and for supporting the rear portion thereof, and for assisting in the retention of the holder in the buttonhole, substantially as herein set forth.

WILLIAM H. HOFFMAN. B. ST. JOHN HOYT,

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN W. HOFFMAN, EDWARD B. SPERRY. 

